Review: Godzilla

Godzilla is the kind of excellent monster movie you can only make when you've already seen someone else make it exactly wrong as your reference. Though director Gareth Edwards first movie, the fittingly titled Monsters, was a stunning debut, Roland Emmerich's ill-advised 1998 Godzilla remake acts as Edwards' training wheels – a clear guide on what not to do. Where Emmerich favoured levity, Edwards favours atmosphere; where Emmerich keeps it local, Edwards goes global; Emmerich's disowned creature became officially known as 'Zilla'; Edwards' king of monsters is quickly labelled "a God". And rightly so, because this Godzilla stands tall in the modern pantheon of monster movies: a no-nonsense beast from beyond that makes his 90s counterpart look like a bogey with legs.